Lock-box mechanism for jail-cells.



J. H. VAN B RN & J. T. WHITEHOUSE. LOCK BOX MECHANISM FOR JAIL CELLS.

APPLIUATiON' FILED AUG. 18, 1913. I 1,1 10,470. Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

2 BHEETSSHEET 1.

J. H. VAN DORN & J. T. WHITEHOUSE. LOCK BOX MECHANISM FOR JAIL CELLS. APPLICATION FILED AUG.18, 1913.

1 470 Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

S 1. FU I I I d J F 1. f

. 0 I s i 1 \H a Q .7 L9 6! UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. VAN DORN AND JOHN T. WHITEHOUSE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE VAN DORN IRON WORKS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that we, JAMES H. VAN DORN and J OHN, T. \VHlTEHOUSE, citizens of the United States, and residents of Cleveland, in

the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio,

, there is a tier or row of cells, in front of which is the prisoners corridor; and at one end of the row of cells and prisoners corridor and separated from the latter by a grating, is the jailers corridor. In this ailers corridor are the operating members of mechanisms by which anattendant may simultaneously open or close all of the doors.

of a tier of cells, and separately lock and unlock the various cell doors; and also, generally, there is a so-called lock box within which are placed some or all of these operating members and some of the mechanism which they move in order that they maybe accessible when and only when the door of the lock box is open.

This invention is especially adapted for use in connection with jail construction having the above mentioned characteristics.

The objects of this invention are, first, to minimize the chance that the jailer will neglect to close all of the doors of a tier orrow Second, to l of cells at the appointed time. enable a jailer or inspector to observe from any part of the ailers corridor whether the cell door controlling mechanism has or may havebeen left, by design or neglect, in a position such as permits the cell doors or any of them to be opened. Third, to render it impossible tomove the cell door controlling mechanisln'in the door'openingv direction without first opening the door,of the lock box.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts which are hereinafter described and definitely pointed out in the appended claims, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of two cells of a tier of cells, showing also the lock box connected with the end wall of the end cell. Fig.2 is a vertical section through the lock box and through someof the cell door operating mechanism above the lock box. Fig.

Specification of Letters Patent.

the doors of the tier or cells.

LOCK-BOX MECHANTSM FOR J AIL-CELLS.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

Application filed August 18, 1913. Serial No. 785,274.

3 is a sectional plan view in the plane indicated by line33 on Fig. 2, when the lock box door is opened; and Fig. 4 is a sectional lan view in the lane indicated by line 44 on Fig. 2 when t e lock box door is closed.

Referring to the parts by letters, A represents the lock box. This is located in the ailers corridor, and is secured to the end wall of the end cell of a tier of'cells. This lock box contains the mechanism, orsome of the mechanism through which the opening and closing and locking of the cell doors is accomplished.

A shaft B is mounted in said lock box and projects out of the same,'and has an operatinghandle 6 secured to its projecting outer end. It is by the rocking of-this shaft in one direction or the other that the jailer is able to simultaneously open or close all of \Vhat form of door moving mechanism is operated by this rock shaft is not material to this invention. Such mechanism may be like that shown in Letters Patent No. 1,007,316, granted October 31', 1911, to Van Dorn and Whitehouse for prison cell door mechanism. That is to say, a gear I) fixed to the rock shaft B within the lock box may mesh with the lower rack teeth 0 on a vertically movable rack bar C which is in the lock box.

I c on the lower part of said rack bar engage a gear at fixed to-a rock shaft D which is mounted in the upper part of the lock box,

and has on one end a crank arm d. The bar F which is pivotally connected with this crank arm has a gear f mounted on its other end; and this gear engages with a fixed horizontal rack f and with a rack g on the sliding pull bar G.- This pull bar has notches g -which severallyreceive bolts H carried by the several cell doors. Through the above describedtrain of mechanism as shown and described in the above mentioned prior patent, or some other suitble train of mechanism the rocking of the rock shaft B'may cause the simultaneous closing or opening of all of the cell doors in the tier, or, at least, all of those doors whose bolts H are in engagement with said notches g The lock box A has a swinging door a, which'may be closed and locked. \Vhen the cell door operating mechanism has been moved so as to open all of the cell doors, the operating lever 12 extends upward from the Other rack teeth shaft B. Byswinging this lever so that it engaged from the extends in a vertical position downward the door closing mechanism will be moved so as to close all of the cell doors.

Within the lock box is some of the mechanism by which any cell door may be independently unlocked or locked, and by which also the bolt H carried thereby may be' dispull bar. What form this particular mechanism may have is not material to the present invention. This mechanism, whatever may be its character, is not accessible when the lock box door is closed.

J represents a sliding bolt which is mounted in the lock box, but is capable of being projected out into the path of-the o eratmg lever b. This bolt is under the in uence of a spring 9' which acts tomove said bolt in,-th'at is to say, out of the path of said lever; but such movement is sometimes prevented by the action of a latch bar M. This latch bar is in the lock box, and when permitted so to do will move by gravity dowhward so that its lower end will engage a notch 7' in the bolt, when the bolt J has been drawn back out'of the path 'of'lever 6. Within the lock box is also a bell crank lever Nwhich is pivoted on a vertical axis. The forwardly projecting arm of this bell crank lever has a pivotal connection with the bolt J. The other arm which extends to the left from its pivot has a pivotal connection with a sliding bar P which projects horizontally forward so that its front end is in the path of the'lock box door a,that' is, it is in such position that the lock box door will strike it as it is moved toward the closed position. When the bolt J is drawn back so as to permit the lever 12 to swing,

' of the latch M referred to,

and when this bolt isla'tched back by means this bar will project so far forward, as shown in- Fig. 3, that the lock box door will strike it before it is closed, and willbe thereby prevented from closing.

Whenever the lock bo'x door is opened, the spring 7' operating on bolt J will move it and the bell crank lever N and bar P into the positions referred to; that is to say, the bolt J will be drawn back into the lock box, and the bar I will be moved forward. Now lever b may be swung from its downward direction into its upwardly extended direction, and thereby all of the cell doors will be opened. As soon as the lever 6 begins to swing in the door opening direction the rack bar C in the lock box will begin to move down. As it so moves, it carries down the finger 0 which is fixed to the rack bar C, and which, by engaging the finger m on the latch M has held said latch up. The latch M, when so released, will fall down into the notch 7' in the bolt J; and thereafter any movement of the bolt J or the parts attached thereto will be prevented. .The jailer can When, however, the jailer moves the op-- erating lever 12 down to close all of the cell doors, he moves the rack bar G up. This rack bar carries a finger 0 The latch M also carries a finger m which lies in the path of the finger 0 When, therefore, the rack bar has just about reached the position it occupies when the cell doors are completely closed, the finger thereon will engage the finger on the latch and will lift it and thereby the bolt J and the parts connected therewith will be freed from restraint. Havin shut the cell doors, it is the duty of the jailer to see that the mechanism which con trols the cell locks is in proper condition. Next, it is his duty to shut the lock box door. As he shuts it, the door, by engaging bar P, will move it inward, thereby rocking the bell crank lever N and thereby pushing bolt J out in frontof lever 12, where it serves to prevent any such movement of this lever in the direction to open the cell doors, so long as the lock box door a remains closed. When any jailer or inspector looks at the lock box and sees that it is closed, he knows that the door closing mechanism must have been operated in the direction to close the cell doors. When he sees this look box door open, he knows that the door closing mechanism may not have been moved into the proper position, and it is his duty to see that it .is inthe proper position, and to then close the lock box door. When this is once closed and locked, the cell door operating mechanism can not be moved so as toopen the cell doors. Or, in other words, the lock box door cannot be closed until all of the cell doors are closed, and the cell doors cannot be opened as ,long as the lock box door remains closed. v Having described our invention, we claim: 1. In jail construction, the combination of the sliding doors of a row of cells, means operable from the end of said row for simultaneously opening and closing all of said doors, and a lock box having a door, with means which prevent the closing of the lock box door until the door operating mechlever, and a forwardly sliding bar whose" front end is in the path of the lock 'box door,

. and mechanism connecting said bolt and bar and compelling their simultaneous movement one out andone in.

3. In jail construction, the combination 0 the sliding doors of a row of cells, means operable from the end of said row for simultaneously opening and closing said doors, which means include an operating lever, and a lock box'having a door, with a s 'ding bolt in said lock' box adapted to be p ojected into the path of said operating lever, and a forwardly sliding bar whose front end is in the path of the lock box "door, andmechanism connecting said bolt and bar and compelling their simultaneous movement one out and one in, a latch acting to prevent the; inward movement of said bar, and means operable by the door operating mechanism as it moves, to the door closing position sfor withdrawing said latch.

4. In jail construction, the combination of thelsliding doors of a row of cells, means operable from the end of said row of cells for simultaneously opening and closing said doors, which means include an operating lever, and a lock box having a door, with a sliding bolt in said lock box adapted to be projected into the path of said operating lever, aforwardly sliding bar whose front end is in the path of the lock box door, mechanism connectin compelling their sim taneous movement one said bolt and bar and i out and one in, a latch acting to prevent the inward movement of said bar, means operable by the door operating mechanism as it moves .to the door closing position for withdrawing said latch, and a spring acting to draw said bolt inward when the lock box door is opened.

' 5. In jail construction, the combination of the sliding doors, of a row of cells, a train of mechanism operable from the end of said row of cells for simultaneously opening and closing said doors, and a lock box having a door, with a bolt movable into and out of the path of a member of the train of door operating mechanism, a movable device which projects into the path of the door of the lock box, mechanism connecting said device and bolt and compelling their simultaneous movement onev out and one in, a latch acting to prevent the outward movement of the bolt, and means operable ,by a

part of the train of door operating mechanism as it moves in the door closing direc- JAMES H. VAN DORN. J OHN T. WHITEHOUSE.

. DBSSGS.

Q Witnesses:

' JOHN TOOK.

E. R.MA'1"IHIAS. 

